Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Captain Rat?

OK, in the late hours of the night I was thinking of biotech and comic books. The time may be ripe for a new super-anti-hero...Captain Rat! Created from human genes and rat genes, his life is spent in angst in an attempt to figure out if he is human or rat, accepted neither by people nor by rodents. An old enough idea, but a good time to revisit the topic, as the creation of chimeras will be around the corner, in biotech time. Chimera is the bio-term for a cross-species creature; ironically, the word also refers to a product of the imagination, perhaps soon to take on reality on a street corner near you. Lots of philosophical and ethical grist for the mill here. (For some reason this link does not seem to go where it should in Netscape, but it's OK in my IE.)

Speaking of comics, how come everyone is always Captain? Captain America, Captain Planet. Why aren't there Corporals, Sergeants, Generals? Does Corporal Rat not have the same ring to it? Discuss amongst yourselves...